Online Business

To make money online, you generally need 3 things:

A website (don’t worry, they’re not that hard to make)
An audience
Something to sell

There will always be exceptions to this rule, like the YouTube celebrities who don’t have their own site, but most of the successful entrepreneurs online (myself included) have figured out those 3 things.

An online business is a great asset; you can work from anywhere and serve people worldwide. Depending on how you have it set up, you can even earn money while you sleep. Ahh that elusive “passive income!”

The location-independent business models you’ll find here include blogging, podcasting, self-publishing, teaching online courses, and more.

If you’re not sure where to start, let me recommend this “Greatest Hits” collection:

184: How to Create, Market, and Sell Your First Online Course – Even With a Small Audience

November 5, 2021July 21, 2016

Course creation has the potential to be a fantastic passive income business, just like book sales or software. Build an asset that has low-to-zero incremental costs, and sell as many copies as you can — sometimes for $1000 or more.

In this episode I’m chatting with Bailey Richert and her advice for budding “infopreneurs.” In her words, you don’t need a huge audience to start building a successful business, but you would be wise to follow a few important steps.

182: Digital Real Estate Investing for Cash Flow

May 14, 2026July 7, 2016

As you know, I’m excited about alternative investments like peer-to-peer lending. And if your aim is to replace your income, I think it makes sense to invest for cash flow.

This week’s Side Hustle Show guest argues when you want something in other areas of your life, you go out and buy it: a pair of shoes, a computer, a new car. You don’t make it from scratch!

So why are we so insistent on building income from scratch? He says there’s a faster way, and that’s to “buy” assets that are already generating positive cash flow.

How I Increased Google Traffic 65% in 6 Months With No Link Building: My Content Audit Process and Results

October 15, 2018June 27, 2016

Over the last few months, I’ve systematically deleted more than half of my site… and my traffic went up?!?

And I’ll be the first to admit, this sounded like completely nuts. Why would you delete perfectly good content? Each page is an extra chance — however remote — for someone to discover you, right?

175: YouTube Marketing: How to Use Free Videos to Build a Full-Time Online Business

July 2, 2025May 26, 2016

If you want to learn English, you may have come across one of Gabby Wallace’s hundreds of YouTube videos on the subject.

Her channel, which started only because the video she recorded for her classroom students was too big to email, has grown to more than 170,000 subscribers and nearly 9 million views.

Gabby is a long-time teacher and found a way to turn her subject matter expertise into a business.

172: Case Study: Creating a $1k per Week Online Authority Business and a Service Business From Scratch

April 26, 2024May 5, 2016

Carey Green had spent the last 20 years as a pastor, before making the leap into entrepreneurship. As he studied to become a licensed mortgage broker, an idea took hold to put his study notes online.

Today Carey helps other aspiring mortgage brokers pass their certification exam, a test he says was the hardest he ever took. That business, which actually derives most of its traffic from YouTube, generates $1000 a week!

But Carey didn’t stop there.

171: How to Get Paid to Create Content – Even When You’re Just Starting Out

May 18, 2026April 28, 2016

Want to get paid to create content? Jason Zook is the undisputed king when it comes to sponsored content.

You may know Jason as the IWearYourShirt guy, where he earned over $1,000,000 wearing t-shirts for various companies. He’s even sold his last name (twice — each for $40k+), formerly going as Jason Surfrapp and Jason Headsetsdotcom.

In this episode, he shares his tips for getting sponsors for your work, even if you’re just starting out. I think you’ll like it!

State of the Nation: 2016 Member Survey Results (Plus How to Run a Survey For Your Audience)

January 10, 2023April 4, 2016

One of the best ways to figure out how to better serve your customers or your audience is to, well, ask them.

So I set out to create my (annual?) member survey and see if I could get some insights into where readers and listeners are at in their side hustle journey, what types of businesses you’re working on, and what your biggest challenges are.

I also wanted to find out about how you were interacting with the Side Hustle Nation content; the blog, podcast, and email newsletter.

166: $10k a Month Blogging Part-Time

September 25, 2023March 31, 2016

We first heard from Robert Farrington back in 2013, on episode 10 of The Side Hustle Show. At that time, he was earning $3-4k a month from a portfolio of different sites, and looking to expand his online empire.

This week, we catch up on what’s changed since then. Robert’s doubled down on his main site, TheCollegeInvestor.com, narrowed his focus, and roughly tripled his earnings.

Oh, and he’s still working full-time too.

Quora for Bloggers: How to Accelerate Your Authority, Audience Growth, and Traffic

May 1, 2024March 14, 2016

On December 7th, 2015, I started posting answers on Quora.com every day.

By the beginning of March — less than 3 months later — my answers had been viewed more than 500,000 times. This has more than doubled traffic to my blog, 10x’d my email sign-ups, and resulted in an increase in book sales.

This post explores my tactics for using Quora to re-purpose old content, accelerate your authority, and rapidly build an audience.

163: How to Build a 6-Figure Blog in Less Than a Year, with Jon Dykstra

September 25, 2023March 10, 2016

Jon is a former attorney turned full-time entrepreneur, and he’s the master of building high quality niche blogs and monetizing them to $10k-20k per month in record time.

(Sixty days to $10k in one case.)

We’ve covered niche sites in the past, but the type of sites Jon focuses on are a different animal. In a way, he sets out to build an authoritative brand in a particular space.

Usually Hustling, Occasionally Social